On July 4/17, 2018, Holy Trinity Monastery celebrated the 100th anniversary of the martyrdom of Tsar Nicholas II and his august family and their loyal servants and attendants who were executed in Ekaterinburg early in the morning on this day in 1918.

On the eve of the feast, the All-night Vigil began at 7:00pm. Presiding at the vigil was His Grace Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada. He was accompanied by monastery and local clergy.

In the morning, the meeting of the bishop began at 9:00am. He was met by Archimandrite Luke and our monastery and local clergy. After Archbishop Gabriel entered, around 100 Russian scouts from St. George Pathfinders of America, Northville, NY, filled the church. The monastery choir was joined by the scout leader and three boy scouts to help us sing the Liturgy. During the Creed, everyone in church was encouraged sing as the monastery choir came down from the right kliros into the middle of the church. Sheet music was handed out to everyone in church and after the Creed, all the scouts and faithful joined the monastery choir in singing “A Mercy of Peace”. The faithful also sang “It is Truly Meet” and the “Our Father”. As always, the mass chorus was very uplifting.

At the end of Liturgy, His Eminence, Archbishop Gabriel, congratulated the gathered faithful with the feast of the Royal Martyrs, reminiscing that in the past, this day was designated as a strict fasting day, until the Royal Martyrs were glorified in 1981. His Eminence also exhorted the scouts to hold fast to the Orthodox Church, live by it’s tenets, and imitate the Royal Martyrs in their piety, rejecting the false truths that the modern world so incessantly pushes on us from all directions.

After Liturgy, everyone was invited to a meal in the monastery trapeza. After the meal, the scouts gathered for a group photo with Archbishop Gabriel and Archimandrite Luke. They then toured the monastery, visited the new exhibit on the Royal Martyrs in our museum, and went to the bookstore to buy some honey (which is very popular among the scouts), icons, and small books.